It’s been a busy few months since receiving the Taking Focus grant in March!

There’s been a number of big moments — including winning the 16th Smithsonian Photo Contest, followed by the $25k Southern Prize from South Arts, and the 2019 Zeiss Photography Award. I was juried into the 2019 Obscura Festival of Photography in Penang, Malaysia in mid-August. The theme for this year's festival is "Subculture," and the judges felt my Delta Hill Riders project was a great match. I’ll be heading to Penang and can’t wait to share these Mississippi stories on the other side of the world.

One of the best things to come out of this project is the close relationships I’ve formed with the people in the photographs. There’s an elder cowboy in town named Rogers Beamon. From the very beginning, he has been very supportive of my documentary work, and he’s proud to share his cowboy history. Please send good vibes and prayers his way, as he’s recovering from two recent strokes. I went to visit him at home last week after getting home from weeks of rehab in a senior home. He’s dreaming of getting back on the saddle.